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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. wake — a trail
  6. clip — to cut
  7. toast — bread
  8. game — wild animals
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. clip — for paper
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. game — a match
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — hasty
  22. clip — a video
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com